Happy Thanksgiving! (Bunny Hut Style)

Thanksgiving Feast day! Here is how we all looked before dinner. Happy, healthy, and thin. Not so much after dinner.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you had a great one. We had a good one here in Wisconsin. I'm not sure how many people I told, but this year our cast and musicians are living in the "bunny hut". It was originally where the Playboy Bunnies lived when this was a Playboy club. Yeah, I'm not sure I want to know the stories.... Anyway, we had a good Thanksgiving Eve hanging out together. One of my favorite friends is here working this contract with me -- Tim. We worked together on the ships, and I stayed with him for awhile when I went to NYC. He is on my top three funniest people list, and I must say this contract would not be the same without him.

Tim donning the bunny ears in the bunny hut. My friend Matt and I posing. He's looking sexy -- me, just plain silly. Tim, Ann, and I -- the three amigos! We are always together. Jake and I. The best trumpet player I know, and he is in the running for a spot on my funniest list. Yes, mom, he's loving the snacks :)

Kevin and I taking our annual Thanksgving photo -- year four. Sean and I feeling great before dinner. And now after dinner ...... Stuffed!!!Not sure if Sean was stuffed or had just had too much of the complimentary champagne.

It was a good day and now I'm off to play cards for the night. I missed my family terribly today but if I had to be away, this is a great second choice :) I'm thankful today for such a blessed life, despite all the ways I find to complicate it. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Passing through...

Once again, the inevitable has happened, I have put off blogging. Aahh, always during the rehearsal process does this fault occur. I am now in Wisconsin and just opened "Hooray for Holidays" so I am on the comeback side. On my way here, I stopped through Shelbyville for the night. Judy, a good family friend, commented to my mom that it seems Shelbyville, KY, is on the way to every job I have. I'm not sure if it is on the way, or I just find a way to make it on the way :) It was so good to see the kids .... and Meg and Joe. haha. It was "Light up Shelbyville" night, and Maggie's class was singing so I got to see that. How fun. The trip was too short, but they are coming here in a week. I can hardly wait!!! Here are some fun pics from that night.

Owen and I being silly on the car ride there. Josie put away a whole jumbo hotdog that night-- this girl can eat!!!

Josie and I modeling while waiting for Maggie to sing. If you can't tell, she is really funny.You can barely see here, but Maggie is singing her heart out with her class. She was the best, of course. hahaThe lines were extremely long for food so Maggie and I waited about 20 min. for a bag of plain potato chips. So we posed.... And posed.....

And posed.... And posed....

And finally we got our potato chips. I can't wait to see you all. Hurry here!!!!!

Just "sit in it" or at least run in it.

I recently had a conversation about living in uncomfortableness. After thinking about it, that has been my predominant life lesson over the past four years -- learning to live uncomfortably. I've spent a good portion of my life fighting uncomfortable situations or simply existing during them. Two years ago, I was driving to Columbus and had a conversation with my friend, Nathan, that changed that habit. He explained if I could learn to "sit in the uncomfortableness" of the situation then I would not feel so despairing or exhausted. Simply accept the situation as it is and live in it, and understanding will come speedily with healing closely following.

In the last two years, I've somewhat grasped this concept of accepting the uneasy and moving forward in it's presence, and I truly believe running has aided me in this progress. Running is one of the most uncomfortable activities for me to endure for an extended period of time, at least when I first begin. My body often does not want to cooperate when it feels discomfort and then the true uneasiness begins -- the muscles tense up, joints ache, and breathing becomes laborious. The mental side is not much better -- it must continuously resist giving in to the physical side that is screaming for relief, not to mention fighting boredom, especially on a treadmill. It was during an uncomfortable time in my life that I picked up running, and I now see how beneficial it was in helping me through that situation. I learned to run for two hours in discomfort, and strange enough, somewhere in that two hours the discomfort became easier and the running was enjoyable -- not endurable but enjoyable. Just as the running became something I learned to do despite the discomfort so did living despite the uncomfortableness. I learned to move forward in both areas regardless of feelings.

As I ran today, I thought of the lessons I've learned and was so thankful for them. I will definitely have many more uncomfortable times in life, but I'm glad I'm finally learning to "sit in them" or even better to run in them.

Dairy Queen Ratings

For all of you WV residents, my father has officially rated the state's Dairy Queens.

Grand Prize goes to Lewisburg -- premium blizzards.
First Prize -- Eleanor -- heaps of toppings.
Second Prize -- Teays Valley -- customer service and nice blizzards.
Third Prize -- St. Albans -- hit or miss.
Last Place -- Nitro -- skimps on toppings and poor customer service.

Would love any comments on the establishments. Hope it helps as you tantalize your palate this holiday season.